Fate/stay night: Chilling Winter Chapter Four: Archer
Shirou sat somber on a bench on his back patio, covering his face with both of his open palm hands, Archer sitting across from him on the other side of the patio or, rather, standing on his chair, as it were--his knee greatly bent to emulate fake sitting. They both sat on silence for a few moments, until Archer spoke up, his voice deep and uncaring. “Master, don’t you think we should find the other Masters and Servants?” Shirou lifted his head up. His tears had run dry, but his face was still slightly red. It was only a little later in the day, the sun could only be faintly seen on the sky, the patio so dark both Shirou and Archer almost looked like glowing shadows themselves. “I don’t even won’t to participate in this war.” Shirou reiterated. “You don’t have a choice.” Archer reminded him. “Shirou ignored that statement. “How are we even supposed to find them?” He inquired. “Can’t you sense them with your magic?” “All I’ve ever been taught is reinforcement magic.” A fury lit in Archer’s eyes, one that Shirou had yet to witness. “You! Are! Useless!” Archer protested, rising off from his perch. “What kind of Mage can only use one kind of magic?” Archer grabbed the bow on his back and began to walk toward the door in the corner. “Where are you going?” Shirou asked. “Anywhere but here.” Archer answered. Shirou was about to let them go helplessly, but then recalled what Rin had previously explained to him about the command seals. Before Archer could leave, Shirou stood up, raised his hand forward, and said, “By the power of my command seal, I order you Archer, stay where you are!” One of the markings suddenly disappeared off of Shirou’s hand, and Archer froze in place, falling to his knees in obvious pain, slowly turning around to face Shirou. “Are you stupid or something?” Archer hissed. “You’re using one of your command spells now of all times?” “Yes, because I want you to cooperate.” He replied. “Since I’m stuck in this war, we might as well try to find another way to track down our opponents.” Archer rose, his eyes filled with content. “Looks like you’ve finally accepted the situation you’re in.” “Hold on.” Shirou said. “If we do this, we do it my way. No killing.” Archer gave a crooked smile. “How in the hell do you plan on fighting a war without killing anyone? Do you not even understand the fundamental concept of war!?” “By finding the Holy Grail without killing. We just need to locate it.” Shirou explained. “What stupid thing are you spouting now, Shirou?” A voice called from outside the patio. The two of them rushed out the door, which broke off the hinges as Archer darted passed. The court yard of the Emiya household was surrounded by three large buildings; his house, which was the size of a duplex even though it wasn’t, a garage on the opposite end that the house is, the smallest of them, and in between them an Archery practice dojo, which looks like it hasn’t been used in several years, dark, dank, and rustic. On the other end his house and his shed were connected by a tall, thick, gray metal fence, which had a hole bore through it. Shirou thought he recognized the voice, but now he was certain; Shinji Matou stood in front of them, accompanied by a strange woman a few inches behind him. “Shinji.” Shirou said with a brief sight of relief. “What’re you doing here? And whose she?” “This is my Servant, Rider!” He responded. Shirou had a suspicion this was the case, due to how out of the ordinary she looked, but he didn’t want to believe it. Roughly 6’7’’ tall, by Shirou’s estimation, with massive breasts bulging out of her shirt, long flowing purple hair, purple eye covers concealing her eyes so Shirou couldn’t make out eye color, pale skin, and a thick, gray chain stretched around her waist as well s her arms and hands, one end being held by Shinji for some reason. Her fingernails, toenails, and eyelashes were painted light purple, to contrast with her dark purple locks. She was adorned in a black skirt small enough at the time to give visage to her breasts, and small enough at the bottom to keep most of her legs showing, with long, black socks that cover the majority of the rest of her legs, and black shoes. Her facial expression was that of pure disgust; Shirou figured that if he had to be Shinji’s Servant, he’d look the same way, too. “You’re a Master?” Shirou said in humorous disbelief. “Of course.” He responded. “My family, the Matou, have been involved in these wars since the beginning.” He explained. “Although, I didn’t actually summon Rider.” He admitted. “Sakura was the Master chosen by the grail, but she wanted no part in it, so here I am.” A cocky, shit eating grin crept onto his face, which sent a shiver down Shirou’s spine. For every moment that passed, a new surprise befell Shirou, it seemed like. An image of Sakura flashed through his head; about the same height as Shirou, long, flowing, purple hair, decently large breasts--albeit not nearly as large as Rider’s, he noticed--purple eyes, and adorned in the standard school uniform of Fuyuki City, which included a knee length skirt. Sakura was child hood friends with both him and Rin, not to mention his childhood crush, and he almost wanted to live in denial that she was part of this in any way. “Where’s Sakura now?” Shirou asked finally. “At our mansion, of course. But--” Shirou spoke before Shinji could finish, turning to Archer. “Hold these two off for me. I’ve gotta go see Sakura.” Archer looked shocked. “You sure?” Shirou nodded silently. Archer gave off an annoyed sigh. “Very well, then. I was getting bored anyways.” Archer briefly bent his neck in all directions, cracks sounding off, and then cocked an arrow on his bow, pointing it at Rider, giving Shirou a nodd to go. Shirou began to sprint behind them toward the shed, ARcher firing several arrows to push Rider back so he can get passed. At Shinji’s command rider darted toward him, reaching into her breasts to pull out a large dagger, which she promptly attached to the chains on her left hand after she untied that section of chains. After pulling out another dagger and repeating the process to the other side, she tossed the left dagger at Shirou. Almost piercing the back of his foot, he managed to jump ahead of it, barely catching it out of the corner of his eye, stumbling down on the landing, and scrambling back to his feet. The second dagger soared, but was deflected by an arrow, just before it struck Shirou, ARcher landing with a thud where it flew, so hard he left a dirt spot admist the bright green, garden fresh grass. He cocked another arrow with an arrogant grin. “I’m your opponent.” Hew said, stalling for time so Shirou could escape through a back door in his shed. Rider placed a pleased grin on her face, contrasting the scorn she had before toward Shinji. “Getting excited now, are you, my pet?” Shinji commented, followed by a sinister laugh. “Very well, have your fun, you shouldn’t need my help for this.” He said with fake confidence so blatantly obvious it made Rider scowl at him for a second, before returning her full attention toward Archer again. She charged in, continuously swinging both of her daggers at him at unnatural speeds, and with impressive control despite the speed. Her body kept facing the same direction, but her arms flailed all over the place, giving a level of unpredictability to the slashes. Archer dodged the first, then shot the second, and dodged the third, shot the fourth, and so on, at the same exact speed the daggers were being launched, using each moment of dodging to load another arrow, and each moment of firing an arrow to regain the proper footing so he can dodge again. After each blade was finished, Rider used the chain attached to it to yank it back to her hand, grab hold of it, and immediately toss it again. While Rider’s movements were wild and unkempt, Archer’s were still, swift, and seemingly motionless, appearing to disappear from one spot and reappear in another spot as he picks up speed. He landed on the ground, backflipped five times to get more distance between him and Rider, landed on the shed behind him, which Rider proceeded to assault, busting through it and destroying it in mere moments. Archer disappeared in the obscuring dust and debris, visibly aggravating Shinji and confusing Rider. A flash of light erupted from the smoke, followed by a red dagger, even larger than Rider’s, exiting, which Rider managed to block. Archer followed up by appearing in front of her and slashing with another red dagger. Although Rider was capable of dodging to avoid a direct hit, she still got struck on the arm, tumbling down to the ground in pain, bleeding out. She crawled to her knees, gripping her shoulder with her hand opposite, screwing up her face in discomfort. Archer reached for another arrow, but was taken aback when he saw Shinji, in his rage, walk over and punch Rider in the face, falling down backward, crashing on the ground again. “Get up, Rider!” Shinji howled, swatting her hand protecting her shoulder out of the way and stepping on it, causing her to shrirek in pain. “Did you hear me, you worthless Servant!?” Archer dropped both his hands down to his sides, and grinned darkly. “Some Master you’ve got there, rider.” He whispered. Shinji didn’t seem to be able to hear him, but Rider could, who scowled at him wtih fury hidden in her eyes. Shinji ignored her gaze. “how would you like me to send you back to Sakura? Would you like having to put her in danger? If not, I suggest you do as you’re told, bitch!” Rider did just that; she got to her feet, slowly but surely, the bleeding all but cease due to her--and, subsequently, Shinji--putting pressure on it, and she was starting to regain her strength again, even if only a tiny bit. Rider made her charge again after she continued to loosen the chains around her arms, legs, and waist, until they weren’t tied around her anymore. At this point the only thing keeping them attached to her was ends that were sticking out of each of her arms, legs, hands, and feet, the lengths of the chains somehow levitating up into the air. Archer prepared an arrow, but was too late; one of the chains wrapped around his leg, flipping him up into the air. Archer pulled out the arrow he grabbed before he became airborne, but another chain strangled that arm, destroying the arrow very quickly; after another second, Rider sent Archer crashing into the ground, the force of impact creating a gigantic crater sized hole, the dust and smoke so thick and in such large abundance that the entire court yard was obscured by it. Even back by the house, which is where Shinji had retreated to so he could avoid the danger of the battle. Wind brushed roughly against his distressed face as he waved passed buildings and parked cars. He stopped in place and looked around him. The city looked abandoned; not a soul appeared to be walking around, parked vehicles scarce. The ones that were in sight had smashed windows, busted fenders, and crushed roofs. The view of mysterious destruction gave Shirou shivers. That must be why the streets were so abandoned. He continued on, but walked rather than ran, so he could scan his eyes around the area, waiting for something suspicious to arrive. Something suspicious arrived. A small figure, too far away for Shirou to make out anything but a silhouette, and fast too. Shirou could barely keep track of it s he chased it half way through town. The further they got, he saw, the worse the devastation got; cars completely destroyed, the pieces laying in the middle of the street, houses missing windows and doors, a couple were even missing their roofs. They reached a forest, which Shirou knew belonged to the Einzbern Family. It was one of the few parts of town Shirou had never been to. Many trees were knocked over, blocking his path, so he had to hop over them; the ones standing were covered in brownish-gray bark, way too many branches to count, of all sizes, and no leaves covering them. The forest seemed like it went on forever, the path widening and widening as he sprinted; it was like a maze. The only reason he didn’t get lost was because of the now hardly visible silhouette he was tracking. Eventually it was out of sight, and Shirou stopped with a start, his deep panting breath becoming visible in the cool Autumn air. He heard a giggle, which sounded like it came from a little girl, from a location Shirou couldn’t identify. He took a step forward, and paused suddenly when he realized he stepped on a tiny string. It was too late, however, and something flew at Shirou from the right side. Shirou ducked, the projectiles darting passed and then ceased. Shirou lifted his head up, and saw three arrows protruding out of a nearby tree. They were only an inch shorter than Archer’s, and shown a faded reddish color, dirty. Shirou glared in the direction they came from, to lay h is eyes on an arrow launcher posted high up on a tree branch. Shirou thought it was the perfect spot, the one area he would never imagine to look...up. He continued slower this time, focusing his eyes hard on the ground so he could try and see the traps; it didn’t help. The next one sent a gigantic log tied in thick rope hurling at him. He tumbled out of the way, rolling and slamming into a tree behind him back first. Standing to his feet, visibly irritated, he tiptoed in a different direction, and the ground gave away, sending him, along with the ground, plummeting far below, light fading a tiny bit. Dust clouded his vision and made him cough for a brief period. He gripped his throbbi9ng temples until the smoke cleared, then proceeded to look up; if the sun wasn’t setting right now, it probably would’ve blinded him in that hole. “What the hell’s going on here?” He stammered furiously, rising up with quivering legs. All of a sudden he heard giggling. It was faint at first, but grew steadily louder, rather quickly. It sounded like a little girl, and she sounded cheerful. As soon as Shirou inquired who could possibly be happy in this fucked up forest, she popped her head over the hole. She couldn’t have been more than twelve with long, silver hair, and an excited smile painted her face. Shirou, who had took a fighting stance when the commotion began, dropped his guard at the sight of her, still mad. The child looked behind her, waving at an individual who was not yet in view. “Here, come over here!” She shouted in a delicate, innocent sounding voice. Shirou’s face looked discerning, and he began to no longer feel in any danger. “Someone fell through one of my holes!” Footsteps began, running, which quickly got louder and louder. When this person arrived, Shirou got full view of her. She was tall, slender, with a stern expression and adorned in a thin white cloak, a hood mostly covering her silver hair, length unknown. “Who is this boy, child?” She exclaimed with venom. If looks could kill. “Dunno. He just stumbled into my trap.” She replied, a puzzled expression. “If I wasn’t traveling through the forest with Heracles, he might have starved to death.” Heracles? Father? Brother? Boyfriend? Shirou had wondered who would name their son after a Greek demi-god. That mus tbe a lot of stuck up pride for a parent, but he dare not mention it; he was already in enough hot water as it was without butting into somebody else’s business. “Leave him.” The tall woman ordered. She began to walk away, when the littel girl reached out; she probably grabbed her, but her hand was out of view, so he couldn’t tell for sure. “No!” The child said in a sad, pouty tone, her lips puckered to further emphasize it. “we can’t just leave him to die!” “B--But, young miss, this man is an intruder!” She insisted. “It’s just a misunderstanding, Stella. He doesn’t look like a threat at all.” She looked back with another smile. If only she knew. Oddly, the command seals appeared visible on the back of Shirou’s hand again. He used his other to cover it up, hoping those two didn’t see; they didn’t appear to. Stella was hesitant, but finally relented, releasing a deep sigh of defeat. “Fine, as you wish. I’ll go get a rope.” Stella left, and the little girl gave Shirou her full attention. The sparkle lit in her eyes, made Shirou certain. He removed his hand palm from the back of his other because the marks disappeared and stood straight up. “I’m Illya!” She exclaimed before Shirou could interject. “What’s yours?” “I’m Shirou. Shirou Emiya.” He responded. Her eyes twitched in a state of shock, but she replied anyways. “Shirou, huh? Why are you intruding on Einzbern ground?” She asked. “I’m trying to get to Matou Mansion, and wanted to take a shortcut.” “Matou?” She repeated, puzzled. “That’s pretty far away from here. You’d have been better off going around so you don’t get caught in the traps. And...Heracles doesn’t take kindly to strangers who enter the forest, nor does Stella.” “W-Who’s Her4acles?” Shirou was almost afraid to ask. “A-A friend.:” She replied. A boyfriend, more like, Shirou thought. Or maybe.....” Stella returned quickly, interrupting his train of thought. She was holding a large, light brown rope, and hoisted it down, Illya grabbing behind Stella for extra strength. Another woman, who looked much more pleasant than Stella, arrived shortly to help, and after Shirou gripped the rope, they were able to aid him up out of the hole. Shirou rose to his feet, brushing all the soot off his clothes, and shook Illya’s hand, who graciously accepted. “Thanks fo rthe assist. “He said. “No problem, now come with me.” This girl didn’t waste any time. “Where?” He asked. “To my mansion of course.” She explained. “You said to wanted a shortcut to Matou Mansion, right? The only way through is from Einzbern Castle. And.....” a pause, then grin.....”I’m the only one who can help you through the traps. So let’s go!” The last three words were said loud and quick, and they began to walk, the two older women following closely behind. Next Chapter Previous Chapter Category:Stories Category:Chapters Category:Fate/stay night: Chilling Winter Chapters